Midnight in the Moonlit Ruins

New Novel To Be Published!

2008-08-20T11:16:00.001-07:00

I'm excited to officially announce that Penguin will be publishing my novel Voracious in February!

Set in the wilds of Glacier National Park, Voracious is my tribute to the amazing mountainous places I've been to, as well as a tale of terror and suspense.

I hope you'll check it out!

Here is the cover:

Wildlife Overpasses

2008-08-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

In an effort to cut down on the mortality rate of animals who are hit by cars, Banff National Park has constructed a number of wildlife overpasses and underpasses. In the photo below, note the trees growing on the overpass. Bears, elk, deer, wolves, cougars and more use these passages to safely cross the TransCanada Highway, which bisects the park.
At both the under and overpasses, wires have been strung across the entryways. When bears and other animals climb over or under these wires, pieces of their hair get snagged. Biologists have been using this method of DNA sampling to figure out exactly which animals are using the passes. The study is ongoing, but so far mortality rates have been reduced considerably, including 80% less bear mortalities.

Eiffel Lake Wildflowers

2008-08-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a sample of the amazing wildflowers along the Eiffel Lake trail.

Eiffel Lake

2008-08-17T12:47:00.000-07:00

The hike up to Eiffel Lake in Banff National Park is my favorite alpine hike I've gone on yet. I went a few years ago, thrilling to the views of rock, ice and incredible wildflowers. Each time I've returned here, though, the hike has been closed because of a grizzly in the area who was raising cubs.
This year, however, she hadn't started using that area yet, so the trail was still open. I was ecstatic!
It leaves from gorgeous Moraine Lake and climbs high into the alpine zone, above the treeline. As before, the wildflowers covered the slopes in a myriad of colors, pink and red Indian Paintbrush, pale white Pasque flower, yellows, purples and blues extending in all directions.
The trail journeys into the Valley of 10 Peaks, named after the immense mountains that rise on one side of the trail. Glaciers cling to their precipitous slopes. As we climbed, Moraine Lake grew smaller and smaller, until it was just a blue jewel gleaming far below.
We crossed a few snowfields, looking for prints of wolverines.

I didn't see any wolverines, but hoary marmots came out to check me out, peering from their rock perches and sometimes coming down to the trail to stare. We reached Eiffel Lake as a storm started brewing over the mountains. Fresh snow still covered the area from the snowfall the night before.

The views from the alpine are simply stunning. We could see all of the Ten Peaks, and the rock and dirt-covered Wenkchemna Glacier stretched out far below us.

Marble Canyon

2008-08-15T12:43:00.000-07:00

We hiked in Kootenay National Park, another gorgeous park bordering Banff. I revisited a favorite hike, Marble Canyon. This section of the park had burned since my last visit, and the vista was staggeringly different.
A narrow canyon plummeting to a roaring white water river, Marble Canyon offers some fantastic view points.
The trail winds up the length of the canyon, starting where the water pours out and ending at the waterfall that plummets into the start of the canyon.
One of my favorite birds was hunting along the water's edge -- the American Dipper. This amazing bird will dive into freezing whitewater and actually walk around on the bottom, then leap back onto the river's edge, flapping its wings. Then it waits, bobbing up and down, looking for morsels in the water. It's unbelievable what they'll jump into, broiling water that looks like it will smash them against the rocks in an instant. But it doesn't. They're in and out with amazing speed. It was nesting in the canyon, and flew down into the cool of the dark recess with its food.

The Burgess Shale Fauna

2008-08-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

We took a side trip into neighboring Yoho National Park, to the site where the Burgess Shale Fauna were discovered in 1907 by Charles Walcott. The area had been reknown since 1886 as a hotbed for trilobite fossils, but Walcott found something else amazing. In a stretch of rock called the Burgess Shale, he found the fossilized remains of strange and glorious creatures which lived 515 million years ago.
Usually when a creature is fossilized, only the hard parts like bones are preserved. But the amazing animals in the Burgess Shale show all their soft parts -- eyes, mouths, legs, and other strange appendages at a time before bones had even evolved. Some of the creatures included Anomalocaris, a two-foot carnivorous shrimp-like creature, and Hallucinagenia, an animal made up of tentacles and spikes which it walked upon.

For more info on the Burgess Shale, check out Stephen J. Gould's book Wonderful Life.

It Lies Beneath

2008-08-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

For the first time I ventured out to Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park. A beach house had been built here in 1886, followed by a little town called Minnewanka Landing. It included hotels and restaurants, and offered boat tours of the lake.

then

But a series of dams has now completely inundated the town. 1941 saw the last of the surface existence of Minnewanka Landing. Now scuba divers are the only human visitors to the town's avenues and submerged structures.

now

Banff National Park

2008-08-11T22:15:00.000-07:00

We drove through Calgary and on to Banff National Park, one my absolute favorite places. The mountain range here is stunning -- very jagged peaks and precipitous slopes, with thick blue glaciers hanging in the valleys. The Bow River roars through, teal and white, and churning.

above Bow Falls

We walked around by the spooky and grand Banff Springs Hotel, one of the Canadian Pacific Railway hotels built in the nineteenth century.
The national park here truly is a stunning place. We got a wooded site at Tunnel Mountain campground. At night, we listened to the call of a barred owl and saw a myriad of stars as one can only see in the darkness of a national park.

Storm Over Waterton

2008-08-09T23:16:00.001-07:00

We stopped for one more look at Waterton Lake.
As we left Waterton Lakes National Park, a terrific storm raged over the mountains. The sky turned dark grey, with fantastic lightning snaking through the clouds.

Saving The Salamanders

2008-08-09T01:39:00.000-07:00

The threatened long-toed salamander faces a dangerous series of treks every year in Waterton Lakes National Park. They leave the safety of Linnet Lake, cross the main road in Waterton to lay eggs, then cross the road again to return to the lake. Then once the eggs hatch, those young salamanders must then cross the road, too. So many have been hit, that the population is in danger.
And so a clever plan was devised to save them. Sheeting was constructed on both sides of the road to direct the salamanders to special underpasses. This sheeting funnels them to openings and they then walk under the road, protected from the dangers of cars.

opening to underpass

the underpass

Don't Fall Into the Canyon

2008-08-06T22:44:00.000-07:00

Redrock Canyon

2008-08-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

In Waterton is a stunning redrock canyon, aptly named just that, Redrock Canyon. The teal river flowing through it cuts steeply, leaving gorgeous red and white streaked rock.
We walked down to the bottom at one point, putting our toes in the near freezing glacial runoff water.
The soil is a deep red color, vivid against the green grass and wildflowers. Above, the deep mountain blue sky stood in stark contrast to the red of the rocks. A few billowing clouds drifted lazily across the azure expanse.

Wildflowers in Waterton

2008-08-05T00:41:00.001-07:00

The wildflowers here grow in glorious abundance. Purple lupine, wild roses, red Indian paintbrush, golden brown-eyed Susans, white yarrow. It's simply stunning.

This is one of my favorite lichen-covered boulders.

Waterton Lakes National Park

2008-08-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

From Glacier National Park, we crossed into Canada to Waterton Lakes National Park. Waterton Lake is a huge, gloriously blue lake surrounding by jagged peaks on three sides.
The Prince of Wales Hotel, one of the grand Canadian Pacific Railroad hotels, stands at the edge of a hill overlooking the lake.
We camped in an amazing spot that overlooked the Blakiston Creek and mountain peaks on the opposite side. Waterton has been called "where the prairie meets the mountains," because the terrain changes from rolling, golden-grassed plains to striking snow-capped peaks.

Logan's Pass

2008-08-01T15:25:00.000-07:00

Logan's Pass, the highest point of the Going-To-The-Sun Road, was completely under snow. We walked on snowfields and gazed at the black and gray peaks around us.

A few green shoots were starting to push up through the soil, but other than that, it was a land of snow, ice, and rock.

A bighorn sheep strolled by, navigating the scree slope above us.

Going-To-The-Sun

2008-07-31T11:00:00.000-07:00

The Going-To-The-Sun Road is a spectacular road that winds through the high country of Glacier National Park, along very precipitous slopes. A cold and stormy day, the peaks were enshrouded in clouds, giving everything an ethereal, gray appearance.
Waterfalls thundered off the glaciers, tunneling under snow and then emerging again some distance down the mountain.

It opened very late this year, much later than the usual June opening. We drove up shortly after the road opened.

Storm at Two Medicine

2008-07-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

A storm rolled in during my last night at Two Medicine. Lightning flashed above the mountains, the boom of thunder reverberating in the valley. Rain drummed on the tent fly, one of my favorite sounds.
In the morning, mist filled the valley, drifting by the lower peaks, obscuring the higher ones. It was a completely different Two Medicine, all magical, soft grays.

Camping In Grizzly Bear Country

2008-07-25T15:47:00.000-07:00

Ah, the bear-proof food locker. At last I am home.

Glacier National Park!

2008-07-24T12:39:00.000-07:00

I've longed to return to Glacier National Park, so I was elated to enter the park once again. This spectacular mountain park is the setting for my novel Voracious. One of the first things I did was visit many of the places my novel is set in, including Lake McDonald on the park's western side.

We scored an amazing spot at Two Medicine, a campground I've never stayed in before. It lies at Two Medicine Lake, amid jagged peaks covered in snow.

We walked along the lake shore, feeling the cool breeze coming off the water.

Yellowstone Lower Falls

2008-07-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

In the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, an incredible vista overlooks the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. It has inspired many artists, including my favorite watercolor artist, Gunnar Widforss.

I stood out on the point, looking down into the narrow canyon as the white water river streaked by. The falls roared, the sound carrying down to my location.
We then walked out on top of the falls themselves, where a rainbows formed in the tremendous clouds of mist spilling up from the canyon floor below.

Wolves of Lamar Valley

2008-07-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

We sat out in a spot where members of the Druid Peak wolf pack often pass through. A few other wolf enthusiasts were out there with spotting scopes and binoculars. Soon after we set up our binocs, a lone black wolf approached. It loped along the Soda Butte Creek, past some pronghorns and a few bison. Then it crossed the stream and ran up a hill out of sight.

A storm started rolling in across the Absaroka Mountains, turning their browns to a misty grey. The clouds descended into the valley as the rain hit us.Not twenty minutes later, a second black wolf came loping along. She walked close to a bison, who was having none of it. She playfully ran up to him, then backed off when he looked at her with no concern whatsoever. She ran down along Soda Butte Creek, farther down than her pack mate had. She passed the two pronghorns, too, and decided to chase them. The pronghorns ran, quickly outpacing her. She returned to her route, loping across the stream. In the middle of the water, though, she stopped, and began pouncing up and down. When she emerged on the other side, she clasped a tremendous fish in her jaws. She padded happily up the hill and out of sight like the pack mate.

Yellowstone National Park

2008-07-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

We departed Grand Tetons National Park and drove north into Yellowstone National Park, that wild and wonderfully woolly place home to grizzlies, wolves, black bears, pronghorns, sandhill cranes, trumpeter swans and so much more. Most people come to Yellowstone to see the magnificent volcanic features -- the geysers, pools, and hot springs. The smell of volcanic activity was thick in the air through parts, and we continued north to Lamar Valley, the most fantastic place in the park.

on the way to Lamar Valley

You know that scene in Snow White where she starts singing and all the birds and forest animals come out? Squirrels and birds and chipmunks? Well, getting out binoculars in Lamar Valley is the equivalent of Snow White bursting into song. Point your binocs to just about any spot, and you'll see wolves, grizzlies, bison, sandhill cranes, beavers, pronghorns, bighorn sheep and coyotes. It's incredible.

Lamar Valley

An elk carcasses was there our first day, with several grizzly bears vying for the meat. At last one victor remained and began eating his dinner, only to be beset by ten huge ravens. Every time he turned his head, a raven would swoop down on the other side and grab some meat. The grizzly was getting pretty frustrated, rearing up at the ravens. Then a lone wolf approached the kill, and the grizzly stood up on his hind legs, eyeing the wolf. The grizzly slammed down onto his forepaws, chuffing, and the wolf streaked off in the other direction.

Some amazing patches of Old Man's Whiskers (also known as Plumed Avens) grew along the trail.

Sunset at Jackson Lake

2008-07-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

We watched a magnificent sunset over the lake, setting the water aglow. A breeze blew across from the jagged peaks, rippling the water slightly. A flock of pelicans flew low over the water, their wings almost touching the lake's surface as they glided away.

Grand Teton National Park

2008-07-17T18:48:00.000-07:00

We've now driven north to Grand Teton National Park, where the spectacular, jagged peaks rise dramatically out of the flat plains. The wildflowers here are spectacular! Fields of gold, purple and pink amid the green of sagebrush.

We sat along the Snake River, hoping to spot otters. As we waited, a bear came swimming
across the river, just his head and ears above the water. He got out on our side of the
bank and shook himself off, a gorgeous brown-phase black bear. Then he loped off happily
amid the sage brush.

The Mysterious Popo Agie River

2008-07-15T12:30:00.000-07:00

Just south of Grand Teton National Park rumbles the magnificent Popo Agie (pronounced po-po-zsha) River. Right now it roars by, all the glacial meltwater causing it to spill over its banks. The Popo Agie plunges into the yawning dark mouth of a cave, only to reemerge half a mile away. I watched as the churning white water vanished into the cave, then hiked to the point where it rises back to the surface. There plumes of mud in the clear water betrayed the force with which the water bursts forth from inside the earth.
A very cool spot!